Film
Documentaries, design and a few small parties
Wednesday and beyond. Series. The Architecture + Design Film Series celebrates some of the world’s most interesting designers through five screenings — and five intimate receptions with filmmakers or architects. The series kicks off 7 p.m. Wednesday with “Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio” from director Sam Wainwright Douglas, who will hang around for a reception afterwards at the Forest Room 5 bar (2532 15th St.) You can see the film for $15 or opt to add the reception for $25. Check out the rest of the lineup and party locations at . Tonight’s screening is at the Starz FilmCenter on the Auraria Campus. Ray Mark Rinaldi
Stranger by the year, but no less relevant
Sept 14. Classic. Even Lucy Walker’s smart, no-nukes documentary, “Countdown to Zero,” gave a nod to “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Stanley Kubrick’s blackest of comedies plays as part of a four-part Kubrick retrospective at the Mayan. Roger Ebert pegged this tale of Cold War madness as “arguably the best political satire” of the 20th century; Pauline Kael was aggravated by the seeming smugness of the film and its fans: “A new generation enjoyed seeing the world as insane; they literallylearned to stop worrying and love the bomb.” It’s only the great films that get the good thinkers locking horns. At the Mayan Theatre, 110 Broadway; Tuesday, 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.; Tickets $7.50-$10; 303-744-6799, . Lisa Kennedy
Pop music
A new, two-night stand tradition at Red Rocks
Tonight-Saturday. Jamtronica favorites. STS9’s David Murphy liked Colorado so much that he moved here. He’s spoken out on Colorado’s appreciation for all kinds of music, as he should. The Mile High City is one of the biggest markets for his band. STS9 has opened for Jay-Z here, played big New Year’s Eve shows and maintained an ongoing summertime tradition at Red Rocks. That tradition will continue tonight and Saturday when STS9 plays headlining gigs at the natural amphitheater in Morrison. Thievery Corporation and Alex (of Pnuma Trio) open Friday’s show, and Ghostland Observatory and Big Gigantic will open Saturday’s concert. Tickets, $55.35, are available via . Ricardo Baca
Not your ordinary new-jazz superheroes
Saturday. Jazz. The ensemble Garage A Trois is not your run-of-the-mill postmodern jazz supergroup. Once rooted in the offbeat guitar work of Charlie Hunter, the trio that sprouted in 1999 has since become a quartet with the addition of Marco Benevento on keys and organ. Benevento, who learned the game at the famed Berklee College of Music and cut his chops around New York City, can be seen gigging with any number of avant-garde projects, from reinterpretations of Leonard Cohen as a solo artist to sitting in with indie rockers The Slip. Garage is grounded in the percussion of galactic guru Stanton Moore, which is reason enough to watch the weird get out. 9 p.m. at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St. Denver. Tickets, $15, are available at . John Hendrickson
Metal still rules
Tuesday. This is heavy. Some of the most successful acts of modern metal are also, coincidentally, the ones with the best names: Disturbed. Halestorm. Wham! But seriously, the Uproar Festival, a tour of epic proportions — two stages, 10 acts, roughly nine hours of high-decibel rock — will require some energy. Conveniently, Rockstar Energy Drink is propelling the festival’s mayhem from coast to coast now through Oct. 4. In fact, according to the website, an empty tallboy of the aforementioned drink will grant you some form of VIP access at the Comfort Dental Amphitheatre on Tuesday. Older fans can take solace in the fact that Jagermeister will also be on the scene to augment the festival atmosphere. BYOE(arplugs!) 2 p.m., 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., Englewood. Tickets, $20-$85, are available through . John Hendrickson
Local band, national buzz
Tonight. Indie pop. OK, Denver, let’s start with this mantra: “I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And gosh darn it . . .” Some Denverites, fans and critics alike, fall all over themselves when a national blog (a la Pitchfork Media) actually writes about a Denver band. Case in point: Tennis, a lovely, whimsical group that is good enough, smart enough and well-liked enough to get national press in the last few months. But Denver, get over your small-minded cow-town past. You’re producing great bands, and there’s no reason to be surprised when Tennis — or Gauntlet Hair or Lust-Cats of the Gutters or others — are written up in national media. These bands deserve it. And Denver, you deserve it. Tennis and Gauntlet Hair play the Larimer Lounge tonight, and instead of blogging about other blogs fawning over Colorado musicians, head out to hear them actually play. Also on the bill: Vitamins and Flashlights, also great bands. Tickets, $8-$10, are available at . Ricardo Baca
Theater
“Stories on Stage” grows and adds a soundtrack
Saturday. Storytelling. You may know Stories on Stage for its “Always on Sunday” series of themed short stories that are read aloud at the Denver Center’s Stage Theatre. But the program has expanded with “Out of the Box,” more daring storytelling forays that are presented on other days and at other venues. On Saturday, “Words and Music” will explore the world of jazz, with stories accompanied by live music at the Denver Civic Theatre. Robert Gossett of “The Closer” TV show will read “Albino Crow” by Chris Abani, and award-winning actor Leonard Barrett (PHAMALy’s “Beauty and the Beast”) will read “Body and Soul” by Wesley Brown. $25. 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at 721 Santa Fe Drive, 303-494-0523 or . John Moore
The most intimate of tales
Through Oct. 9. Pillow talks. Nonesuch, a salon theater in Fort Collins, debuts “My First Time,” Ken Davenport’s provocative new comedy that’s about exactly what the title infers: It’s a theatrical look at that rawest state of the human condition — the first sexual experience. Drawn from more than 40,000 online submissions, the actors tell true stories that are by turns comic, sentimental, erotic, political, galling and heartrending. The audience will provide some of each evening’s stories through the form of a questionnaire. $20, with a dinner package from the Rustic Oven also available. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 10 p.m. Saturdays at 216 Pine St., Fort Collins, 970-224-0444 or . John Moore
